The Coming Dawn
by Solitary Solid
Summary: The young heroine, the Dragonborn, comes to Skyrim for a chance at freedom from the Medes Dynasty but unwittingly falls prey to a pack of wolves and one in particular has a bite she cannot forget.
1. Chapter 1: Flight

She had been a prisoner to a foolish dynasty long enough. The Medes Dynasty had ruined her bloodlines kingdom; they had lost it to the elves of all people and were even now the slaves to the elves as they did not have the money or supplies to overthrow the Thalmor's yoke. Titus Medes was not a bad man, however, he was not wicked, and he treated her well. He treated her well because she was a pawn, she heard the rumors that it would be better if he killed her, but he had planned to marry her to one of his sons. This would create the strongest dynasty in all of Tamriel. What race could rise against the last blood of the Septims and the Medes who rose up after the Septims left a gap in leadership? He was waiting until after one of his relatives in Skyrim married, it was not the right time to have such a lavish feast anyways. Skyrim was in revolt, they would see a marriage as another Imperial extravagance. So they plumped and preened her for the day that was bound to come, to a man whom she despised and felt too free with her. Her skin crawled at the thought of his voice in her ear, or the way he rubbed the small of her back in passing. She had stayed silent in all of this, the dragon without a voice. She had to stay silent, she had to smile at their banter, she had to act cute and dumb or else she would be killed like her parents. Her parents were the last of the rebellion of the Septims, and they had died quick, public deaths as she watched on the scared child.

So roamed the halls in lavish dresses of the softest silks and brightest colors, she was their song bird that sang at their feasts and said the words they had trained her to say. She hated them all as much as they hated her. The people seemed to love her, just for the fact if she rose up then perhaps Skyrim would come into reign, but that was foolish. Those nords would fight for their freedom until you burned down every hold. Even if the people rose up with her, the Thalmor now roamed every inch of the Imperial City, and their forces were much stronger than a few thousand with pitchforks and fires. It seemed Skyrim was her only way out of this.

She had been plotting for a while, and it had cost her a lot of gold to pull this off. She had a contact in the Thieves Guild that was willing to sneak her out but it was still risky. She had watched the sun fall that night and it almost felt like she had the wings of the Akatosh avatar that stood in the courtyard. She feigned illness and went to her room early. She had slipped into the thieves own clothing, tight black leather and boots to match. She threw on the only remnant of her parents, a wolf pelt that her father had made. It was pitch black, and the hood still contained the wolf's facial structure and ears, with a few teeth remaining. They said it made her look like a savage, and perhaps she was. She knew that she was not the same as these royals. She was a fighter, she was a dragon.

She grabbed the rope from under her bed, and tied it tightly to the post. She made sure it was secure and tight as she stepped onto the window's ledge. She repelled down to meet the thief at the bottom. He led her out their passage to avoid the guards, and once she had stepped beyond the gate he had a horse waiting for her. She paid him the money and rode off that night towards Skyrim. She could hear the alarm bells ring as the city was a blur to her back, and she smiled to herself. She smiled her first real smile in over a decade.


	2. Chapter 2: Fear

The dragons had returned and she had survived it, which not many could say in Helgen. She would not be able to say the same if that imperial Hadvar had not helped her. Ralof had seemed more keen on helping her, but there was too much distance between him and her to close it without being picked up by that big, black dragon. She did not even truly know how she had ended up in the situation she did. She had been captured as she crossed the border on her horse because Ulfric Stormcloak had been passing her at the same time. They thought she was one of them, and had knocked her out, tied her up, and thrown her into the cart of prisoners like she was just a slab of meat.

She thought for sure when she was called up, that when she uttered her name was Acca Septim they would have just taken her back to the Imperial City, but that guard woman had laughed at her and called her a liar. Hadvar seemed to be skeptical of her claim as well, but at least he was more apologetic for the death she was going to face. As she had laid her head on the block, and resigned herself to her death, that dragon appeared and saved her. It did not really mean to save her though, as it more than one almost crushed her, or almost set her on fire.

Hadvar had saved her though, or helped her escape. He seemed surprised she could wield a sword, and more surprised at her archery but she had been raised to defend herself. Perhaps it was not the most ladylike thing in the Imperial City, but her defense was that exercise extended the lifespan of women, and Medes had seemed to fall for that. She almost felt bad for leaving when she thought back of the things he had allowed her to do, and how he doted on her and called her his only daughter. It could not have been real though. He only loved her for her Septim namesake, if he cared for her he would not have slaughtered her parents.

Hadvar had made reference to the face she had said her name was Acca Septim. "If you are the princess, I would be required to turn you in…"

"They would kill me if you turned me in, or probably just kill me on the way back to the Imperial City and say it was Stormcloaks. That would be very convenient. It would force the ordinary people to take up the cause of conquering Skyrim again, right now most people feel it is bleeding the kingdom dry, which this war is."

"You seem awfully suspicious. Medes raised you since you were a child. I doubt he would kill you that easily."

"I am a pawn, and I have made a wrong move. I am useless since I have moved off his plan of marriage into the Medes Dynasty and have caused too much trouble. Also, the King does not have the final say in the Imperial City. He is getting older, his sons are preening to take over and will most likely feel betrayed by me, there are also the counselors that would rather take and consolidate the power to them…there are also the Thalmor"

"I do not know such things. I am just a Nord who joined the Imperial Army for steady pay and adventure." Hadvar had smiled at her in defense, signaling he wanted to stop this conversation.

"You do not want to know such information if you wish to keep serving the army is what you really mean." They had walked in silence after that, it had been awkward, but she had dealt with worse conversation companions.

"I do not think it would be wise if I left you at this juncture. Skyrim is a dangerous place. I need to check into the fort nearby though, and I do not think it would be wise if you came. They will surely have your image at the fort."

"Like you had my image in your records when you went to behead me?" She rolled her eyes. "I am capable of defending myself. I have been hunting before, and I clearly outran a dragon."

"Yeah, yeah." She could tell she was at the end of his kindness, but he did feel bad about leaving her undefended. Perhaps it was his uniform that was just making her agitated in his company. "If you go to Riverrun and see my sister she can give you supplies. I think the best path after that would be to go to Whiterun and inform the Earl of what happened at Helgen. Knowledge is our only defense against dragons at this point, and arrows."

"Thank you for your help." She reluctantly conceded. She was not used to thanking others. They felt like such foreign words on her tongue. It was odd in general her behavior. She had not wanted to spill so much to this soldier but perhaps it was the near death experience that made her feel so close to him.

* * *

So she walked to Riverrun. She felt like the conqueror of wolves after how many packs she had slaughtered on the way. They had bitten her a few times, but Hadvar's sister had patched her up and gave her a horse to ride to Whiterun. The children seemed interested at the whispers of dragons, and the blacksmith seemed more than willing to give her a quiver of iron arrows to go with her bow. He offered her a better sword, but she could last until Whiterun.

She had crossed the mountain by walking her horse most of the way, but now that she reached the plains before Whiterun it felt so nice to ride freely. She could see the walls of her destination and she felt relieved that she could finally rest somewhere other than the ground. She slowed her pace though as she saw a group fighting a Giant. She rode closer and pulled her bow off of her back and an arrow. She aimed the target and got the beast in the eye, she had always been the best archer in the Imperial City. The Giant fell in agony and the group of people made quick work of it then. She rode up to them. It was two females and a male in custom Nord steel armor.

"Are you three okay?" She would regret these words and this interaction to come. She would place here the moment her life spun out of control under her, though it was not necessarily neat and orderly since her escape.

"We are fine. We are the Companions. We were being paid to kill the Giant. Thanks for the help though, sister." The one woman was strikingly beautiful, but there was something feral about the way she looked at Acca. "You should come by our Hall sometime. We would accept anyone with an aim like yours." The woman made a gesture to the eye of the Giant and Acca smiled meekly.

"I have not seen a better shot from horseback." The man nodded his head. "I am Farkas, this is Aela, and Ria." So the woman's name was Aela, it sounded nice enough.

She paused for a moment. She did not know what to say for her name. Acca was not a common name, and she doubted she could go by it anymore. "My name is Grey." She smiled using the horse's name she was riding. "It is very nice to meet you three. I may take you up on your offer since I am new to Skyrim, but I have business with the Earl first."

Their talk ended quickly enough and she rode off to Whiterun. She got an odd vibe from them. They smelled like the pelt she wore, or the blood of the wolves she had slain on the way here. There was something strange about them.


	3. Chapter 3: Dragon Rising

Note: So I am really bad at names in Skyrim. I have been using sources for it, but you will see that I sometimes misspell names, such as Titus Mede, I have spelled his name Medes at times.

* * *

How she got picked to go lead the fight against the dragon she was not quite sure. Yes, she had been at Helgen, but that dragon had not been slain….and she had definitely no part in its leaving Helgen. As far as these people were concerned she was a travelling mercenary named Grey. Why in all of Tamriel was she to lead the charge? The Jarl, who had seemed pleasant enough, had sent her with his housecarl, Irileth and several soldiers. Acca had protested that the amount of soldiers was not enough, but the Jarl did not have anyone else to spare. Most of them had died when the dragon had attacked the fort in the first place.

The court at Whiterun had tried to pick her brain for how to best fight their foe, but she did not know that either. She could only give information about the attack at Helgen, and the signs the dragon gave. Acca knew that they would not get close to the dragon; even at a distance the dragon was formidable.

The fear was starting to crawl up her spine. She knew how to fight, but this was a whole different beast to face. She remembered the last battle before she had thrown off her general's armor in disgust. She had been leading 50 men to battle to put down an uprising near the border of Skyrim. The unrest caused by Ulfric had spilled over into Cyrodiil's border as Talos worship was very common in northern Cyrodiil. A lot of the residents were immigrants from Skyrim, looking for a warmer climate perhaps. It was supposed to be an easy mission, much easier than the other battles she had led in Mede's name. It was not though, it was a slaughter. The Thalmor had plotted to kill her at that battle, all they had managed to do was kill all her men and all of the town. She had crawled back to the capital like a dog with her tail between her legs, and threw her armor at Mede's feet. That was when she had decided to leave the empire and side with Skyrim. She grit her teeth at the memory and swallowed her fears.

The sound of wings flapping took her back to Helgen. The ground beneath her darkened as the shadow of a dragon swooped over her, circling the fort that now lay on fire.

"Everyone to cover! If we stay in the open we are dead!" Irileth ran forward, leading the charge to the fort to take cover in what stone was left of it. The dragon swooped down breathing fire at them. The dragon only seemed to have gotten one man who flailed and screamed as he fell to the ground to not move again.

Acca had not been quick enough, and with the blast her path was cut off from the others. She ran forward to grab the shield from the flaming corpse. It was hot to the touch but it did not burn her. She knew that hiding and firing arrows at the beast would not be enough. If her last battle had taught her anything she was not going to be at the back of the charge this time.

"Grey! What are you doing?!" She could hear Irileth scream from the shelter of the fort as the soldiers peppered the dragon with arrows. She could hear it laughing at them though, at least it sounding like laughing.

Acca felt like this was not the way to win though. She ran across the field as quick as she could. She could hear the dragon coming, and it spoke something. She heard the word fire, and she instinctually raised the shield and dove out of the way. The blaze missed her by inches, and the heat was making her sweat. She rose to her feet and continued to run up to the broken staircase.

"Fight courageously. Good!" She turned her head as she reached the stairs. That was definitely the dragon. The dragon was talking. She was not hallucinating this, was she? She shook her head and ran up the stairs, jumping back as the dragon let another blast to the stairs in front of her. The shield blocked the flamed but not the heat. She felt so light headed and out of breath.

It would not help to waste her breath telling Irileth to distract that dragon. She could hear the arrows being fire at it, and she could hear the dragon shoot flames at them as well. She reached the top after jumping across a chasm created from the staircase falling through. She panted as she reached the even ground to draw the bow from her back, leaving the shield on her arm she aimed an arrow at the dragon circling her companions. Perhaps the dragon thought he had gotten her in the last blast.

She shot the arrow hitting him just under the jaw. She heard what she thought was a curse as he came crashing down to the ground to shake the arrow from under his throat. The dragon slammed his tail into the fort making one of the walls crumble, and two soldiers fell from their position to be snatched and thrown like dolls by the dragon. She grimaced to draw another arrow from her quiver and aim it at the dragon. She saw one of the soldiers catch the dragon in the eye, which caused a blast of fire to erupt in their direction. She did not know if Irileth survived, but the dragon was soon circling again. She was trying to draw his attention, shooting at his weak points…under the neck, his belly, his face but he seemed more determined to take the others out. With her last arrow she pierced his throat again in the same spot. The same curse erupted, and he swooped down to land in front of her on the top of the fort.

"You are brave." Her breath caught in her throat as she discarded her bow to the side to inch her arm back for the sword at her side. "I had forgotten what fine sport you mortals can provide." The dragon was toying with her, mocking her and talking to her. Perhaps he saw how big her eyes were, and how it seemed impossible to breath. "Your defeat will bring me honor."

She heard the word fire but she knew it was coming as soon as he started to open his mouth. She raised her shield to rush to the side of the blast. She felt her thigh get hit but she continued in her path. She jumped onto his horns on the side where his eye was damaged. He tried to shake her off but she dug her feet in and wrapped her arms tight.

She thought she heard more curses as he tried to shake her, slamming her into the fort to get her to release her grip. She felt her ribs crack as she hit the stone, but she could not let go.

"You are a pest, mortal."

She swallowed a gasp of air. "Not as much as you are." The dragon seemed to hesitate as she spoke to it. Perhaps it had never had someone talk back to it. She grabbed her sword tightly as he raised his head to strike her against the stones again to dig it deep beneath the back of his skull.

The dragon roared bucking backwards. She lost her grip and fell to the ground, clutching her sword tightly. She knew she had ripped backwards, pulling some scales off which clattered to the ground with her.

She rose to her feet, broken ribs and all to spit out some blood that had pooled in her mouth. The dragon snapped at her, roaring incoherent things at her as she walked forward, raising the broken shield to keep him back. He had grabbed the shield, ripping it from her arm. The leather broke off quickly leaving hardly any damage to her. She leapt up in that instance to dig the sword in between his eyes. He sank down, laughing as blood ran from his mouth.

"You mortals cannot defeat us….If you beat this body, my soul will just come back…" The ground beneath her started to get hotter, and the dragon seemed to glow as she stepped off of the body and walked backwards. "What is this….? Dovahkiin? NO!" The light engulfed her, blinding her for a second and leaving her with a tingling feeling in her chest. Maybe that was her crushed ribs though…

All that remained of the dragon was the bones after the light disappeared. She squinted, not really believing what had happened. She collapsed onto the stone to just stare at the skeleton before her.

"Did you see that?!" She whipped her head around to see Irileth and the few remaining soldiers standing at the staircase. "She's the Dragonborn!"

That was the last thing she remembered from that day. When she awoke in Dragonsreach they had told her it was from a combination of internal bleeding and pain. She was lucky Farengar was such a good healer, they all said.


End file.
